"He is a good fellow at heart, I am sure."
"And Ethel is so entertaining and so kind. You should have heard the nice things she said of you. I am glad she married Cephas."
"And I'm glad he married her." They both laughed and went forward to see what Cap'n Ben's wagon was bringing to Wits' End.
The island could boast of but three horses, and it had not been so very long since that Cap'n Ben's yoke of oxen had been superseded by his white nag. Ira Baldwin had bought a horse within the past year, not to be outdone by Dan Stork who already had one. As these two were kept pretty busy, it fell to Cap'n Ben's lot to drive back and forth from the wharf to Wits' End during the week of the wedding. He brought the boxes of stores, from Portland, he fetched the minister and the best man from the boat, he took messages to the stores, and finally drove the bridegroom at a dashing pace to the cottage where Gwen in her simple white wedding gown was waiting.
Wits' End was a bower of blossoms on that summer day. There were banks of daisies around the living-room, long gray moss from Sheldon woods was festooned around the top of the room, the fireplace and mantel were filled with ferns and wild-flowers which all the young people of the wedding party had gone forth to gather the day before. The Gray sisters had not yet arrived at their cottage, but Mrs. Fleming and her children were on hand, so were the Hardy girls, while Jack Lansdale appeared, as he said, "just in time to be useful."
"No music?" he exclaimed when told of the day's arrangements. "That will never do!" He rushed off and returned in a little while to say that he could get Miss Eleanor Drake to bring her violin. "She plays like a breeze," he said. "I'd sing the Bridal Chorus from Lohengrin myself rather than have it left out."
"Why not all of us sing it?" cried Nelly Hardy. "I'm sure we can get up a chorus of six or eight voices, and with the violin it will be great. Dolly hasn't a bad voice, and I've rather a pleasant pipe myself."
"Come on," cried Jack, "we'll go the rounds and meet at the Hall for rehearsal." They rushed out, and so was the wedding music furnished.
Cap'n Ben's old white horse was never so gaily bedecked as that day when with white rosettes on his head and white daisies stuck along his collar he trotted down the long road to bear the bridal pair to the end of the island, from which point they would be rowed over to Dorr's and from there would drive to Brunswick. Twice on the way the white horse stopped; once it was at Cap'n Ben's door where Miss Phosie was watching. She held a small package. Gwen alighted, bridal bouquet in hand, and went up to the step. "Dear Miss Phosie," she said, "why didn't you come?"
"I couldn't," she answered. "I didn't feel that I could. I want you to have this," she whispered. "It's only an old brass candlestick that he always used in his room, but I thought you would like to have it. I wanted to give it to you myself, but I'll keep it here till you get back, for you'll not want to carry it with you."